


Picture of Perfection

by AkinoAme



Category: Kamen Rider OOO
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 01:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8036470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkinoAme/pseuds/AkinoAme
Summary: Eiji's mother drops in for a visit. Eiji's family makes everything worse.





	Picture of Perfection

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Estranged"

                They sat across from each other at the back table at Cous Coussier, kneeling on the cushions. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Eiji's seiza posture was perfect, the tops of his feet flat against the floor and tucked underneath him. It also didn't escape them that his back seemed a little straighter than usual and the expression on his face was carefully neutral. The woman across from him was just as flawlessly formal, but she looked over him with a scrutinizing gaze.

                "You look a lot better, compared to the last time I saw you," she admitted. "You're less thin, for one."

                "Yes," he answered, trying to keep a slight stammer out of his voice.

                She caught it anyway. "You don't need to be so nervous. I'm your mother, after all."

                He bowed, lower than he usually would. "I know, I'm sorry."

                "Hard to believe it's been a year already," she mused. "So you've been staying here since you left home?"

                "Yes," he said. "I'm working, mostly part-time, and Chiyoko lets me stay in the attic. There's a bedroom up there."

                "I would like to see it," she insisted.

                Ankh was up there, but Eiji knew better than to try to argue. So he only nodded, answering, "All right."

                He led her upstairs and stopped at the door. "Just one minute, okay? I need to check on my roommate first."

                "Very well," she replied.

                He cracked open the door and slipped inside. Sure enough, Ankh was lazing about on his nest, eating his fifth ice pop of the day while looking over the information on the Medals. A collection of discarded sticks was all over the floor.

                "Ankh, you need to start cleaning up after yourself," he whispered as he picked them up and threw them out.

                "Why do I need to when you'll do it?" Ankh replied, never once looking up from his tablet.

                Eiji looked at Ankh in the nest and sighed. He should have asked Hina to help him take the couch down and set it on the other side of the room again; that way, it wouldn't look nearly as strange in there as it did. But then, he had no idea his mother was visiting. She'd come up and said it was a surprise.

                "Ankh, off of there for now," he whispered.

                "What?" Ankh argued as Eiji started trying to pull him down.

                "Look, my mother is here, so can you just behave for a bit?"

                "Eiji?" came the voice at the door, and the door opened. "I'm coming in."

                Eiji froze, just as his mother saw him trying to pull Ankh off his nest. To his horror, she walked over, her face impassive, and asked, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

                He bowed again in apology. "Mother, this is Ankh, my roommate. Ankh, this...this is my mother."

                "You say that like you're embarrassed," she noted, keeping her tone light even while her words were critical. She bowed gracefully. "It's nice to meet you."

                Ankh stared for a moment until Eiji dug one of his fingernails into his wrist. With a shout of "Ow!" he knocked Eiji's hand away.

                As soon as he caught his mother staring again, Eiji said, "Sorry. Static electricity—Ankh's really sensitive to it," prompting a glare from the Greeed. "Anyway, this is our room. It's not much, but..."

                "But it's temporary," she reasoned, and he hesitated. "It _is_ temporary, right?"

                He nodded carefully. "Right now, I'm just staying here until I..."

                "Until you come home," she said. When he remained silent, she sighed, "Or until you leave on another trip."

                "I'm not going anywhere right now," he insisted. "And I know you and Father want me to come home, but..."

                "But you're not ready," she answered.

                Eiji didn't want to answer. He knew whatever he said, it would be a trap. His father didn't take no for an answer, but his mother? She turned a "no" into a "yes," or at the very least, a "maybe."

                As if he knew Eiji needed the interruption, Ankh bumped into him on his way down from the nest, offhandedly remarking, "Going downstairs to get an ice pop."

                It was a welcome distraction, and Eiji couldn't manage the usual aggravation when he called back, "Don't eat all of them in one day! They're adding up, you know!"

                Ankh ignored him as he headed downstairs, but the topic had shifted, and Eiji's mother noticed, "Your roommate's manners could use some polishing."

                "I know," he admitted, probably the first thing he'd agreed with her on all evening.

                "You're not dating him, are you?" she asked.

                He looked back at her in shock. "What?"

                "It's not as much of a scandal as it would have been a few years ago," she said. "Although, I'd prefer you were interested in someone less uncouth." Then, realizing that Eiji was still staring, she shook her head. "Eiji, you were always so naive. Of course, there have been rumors about you for years. It's why your father and I wanted to limit your time spent with that Kitamura boy. Have you heard from him lately?"

                "I..." Eiji stammered, unsure where to start. "I'm not dating Ankh."

                There was a flash in her eyes, more probing as she asked, "Then the girl downstairs?"

                "Hina's _also_ a friend," he insisted, anger slipping into his voice before he could help it. His mother looked at him in surprise, then disappointment, and he lowered his gaze in shame.

                Before the situation could get any worse, there was a knock at the door, and Hina cautiously peeked her head in.

                "Eiji? Sorry to interrupt."

                It gave him a chance to catch his breath, and he made himself smile. "No, it's no problem, Hina. Come on in. You met my mother, right?"

                She bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you." That received a bow in kind before Hina turned her attention back to Eiji. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to go home soon, and I was hoping you could take over my shift?"

                "Oh," Eiji replied, relieved. "Oh, no problem!"

                "I'm really sorry," Hina insisted. "I know your mother's visiting and everything..."

                "No, it's okay," he insisted, looking at his mother. "It's okay, right?" Her face was as serene as always, refusing to betray her emotions, but he was sure she was annoyed. "Sorry."

                "I'll let you get back to work," she promised. "But before I go..." She removed a camera from her purse and handed it to Hina. "Would you mind taking a picture of us?"

                "Of course," she answered, taking over the camera. "Say cheese."

                They didn't, of course. Mrs. Hino would never do something so undignified, and as for Eiji, he had his best fake smile on. Hina's face fell as she snapped the photo and handed the camera back.

                "Perfect, thank you," Mrs. Hino answered. Then, turning back to her son, she asked, "See me out?"

                He nodded, albeit reluctantly, and walked her to the door.

                "I really wish you would change your mind about coming home," she insisted. When Eiji didn't answer again, she sighed, "But I guess there's no arguing with you. You take after me too much." She reached up and kissed his cheek. "Take care, Eiji."

                He nodded, softly answering, "You too."

                He watched until she made her way out the gate, then turned toward Hina with a sigh, picking up a large hat that had been part of his costume. "You can go ahead and go home now. I'll..."

                She shook her head. "I'm working closing tonight; there's no school tomorrow." As Eiji stared at her in surprise, she admitted, "Ankh came downstairs complaining about how bad it was. So I made up an excuse to get her to leave."

                Eiji turned his surprise on Ankh, who scowled while he sat backwards on a chair, eating his ice pop. The only defense he could offer was "I don't like people going up there and messing around too much."

                Chiyoko came over, looking worried. "Eiji, do you not get along with your parents?"

                He didn't have it in him to fake another smile. He shook his head, saying, "Something happened last year, when I was traveling, and I couldn't take it at home. I left."

                "I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I had no idea..."

                "No one knows," he admitted. Then, with a glance toward Hina, "Well, not exactly no one. But it's not something we try to let on about. Mother was just trying to catch up, so if anyone asks how I am, she can make it sound like she knows more than she does."

                Everything rigidly controlled, down to the perfect photographs with the perfect fake smiles. He was sure she would even exaggerate his answers about Ankh and Hina into something like "Well, I think he's dating someone, but he just doesn't want to admit it. It's just a mother's intuition." Not that, deep down, he thought it wouldn't be nice...but just the thought of her meddling into it was enough to put a damper on it. His parents had interfered with his life too much.

                "Are you okay?" Hina asked.

                "I'm fine," he lied, smiling. But they'd seen his true face now, and he had to let his mask break, changing his response to "I will be. Don't worry."

                "They're going to worry," Ankh snarked. "No use telling them that."

                "I know!" Chiyoko realized, and she rushed upstairs. When she returned, she had one of the cameras that usually sat on the shelf above Eiji's bed. "I knew I still had some batteries and film for these. Eiji, how about a picture of all of us? You know, like a family photo?"

                He stared at her in shock, but Hina took his hand with a smile, insisting, "You get to decide who your family is." Then, slowly, he nodded, the realest smile he'd ever had spreading across his face.

                Chiyoko handed the camera off to a customer, then grabbed Ankh by the arm and dragged him over. "Come on, Ankh, it'll be fun! You're part of Eiji's family too!"

                "Who says?" he argued.

                "Now, now," Chiyoko insisted. "Everyone smile and say cheese!"

                "Cheese!" Hina and Eiji cried while Ankh scowled.

                So maybe Ankh refused to smile, no matter how much Chiyoko clung to him and pleaded. Maybe she was dressed as the Queen of Hearts while Hina was Alice, and Eiji had a huge, elaborate hat. Maybe Ankh finally lost it when Chiyoko tried to get him to wear bunny ears and stormed off.

                It was still the best photo Eiji had ever taken, and nothing could erase the smile from his face.


End file.
